Hama: Difference between revisions

| population_total = 312,994<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cbssyr.org/General%20census/census%202004/pop-man.pdf |title=2004 official census |publisher=cbss |accessdate=4 November 2013-11-04 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130310211017/http://www.cbssyr.org/General%20census/census%202004/pop-man.pdf |archivedate=10 March 2013 }}</ref>

By the turn of the millennium, the centralized old Hittite Empire had fallen, and Hama is attested as the capital of one of the prosperous [[Syro-Hittite states]] known from the [[Hebrew Bible]] as Hamath ([[Aramaic language|Aramaic]]: ''Ḥmt''; [[Hittite language|Hittite]]: ''Amatuwana'';<ref name="Hawkins, J.D 1975"/> {{lang-he|{{hebrew|חֲמָת}}}} ''Ḥəmåṯ''), which traded extensively, particularly with Israel and Judah.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/7125-hamath |work=Jewish Encyclopedia |title=Hamath |publisher=Jewishencyclopedia.com |accessdate=4 February 2013-02-04}}</ref>

When the Assyrian king [[Shalmaneser III]] (858–824 BC) conquered the north of [[Aramea]], he reached Hamath ([[Assyrian Neo-Aramaic|Assyrian]]: ''Amat'' or ''Hamata'')<ref name="Hawkins, J.D 1975"/> in 835 BC; this marks the beginning of Assyrian inscriptions relating to the kingdom.<ref>Hamath's history from the inscriptions was encapsulated by George L. Robinson, "The Entrance of Hamath" ''The Biblical World'' '''32'''.1 (July 1908:7–18), in discussing the topography evoked by the Biblical phrase "the entrance of Hamath".<!--a better summary history could probably be cited--></ref> [[Irhuleni]] of Hamath and [[Hadadezer]] of [[Aram-Damascus]] (biblical "Bar-Hadad") led a coalition of [[Aramean]] cities against the encroaching Assyrian armies. According to Assyrian sources, they were confronted by 4,000 chariots, 2,000 horsemen, 62,000 -foot-soldiers and 1,000 Arab camel-riders in the [[Battle of Qarqar]]. The Assyrian victory seems to have been more of a draw, although Shalmaneser III continued on to the shore and even took a ship to open sea. In the following years, Shalmaneser III failed to conquer Hamath or Aram-Damascus. After the death of Shalmaneser III, the former allies Hamath and Aram-Damascus fell out, and Aram-Damascus seems to have taken over some of Hamath's territory.

In the early 1980s, Hama had emerged as a major source of opposition to the Ba'ath government during the Sunni armed [[Islamic uprising in Syria|Islamist uprising]], which had begun in 1976. The city was a focal point for bloody events in the [[April 1981 Hama massacre|1981 massacre]] and the most notable [[1982 Hama massacre]].<ref>{{cite web|author=[[Larbi Sadiki]] |url=http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/07/201173113293285318.html |title=In Syria, the government is the real rebel – Opinion |publisher=Al Jazeera English |accessdate=2011-07-31 July 2011}}</ref> The most serious insurrection of the [[Islamic uprising in Syria|Syrian Islamic uprising]] happened in Hama during February 1982, when Government forces, led by the president's brother, [[Rifaat al-Assad]], quelled the [[Hama massacre|revolt]] in Hama with very harsh means.<ref>[http://bikyamasr.com/wordpress/?p=38546 ]{{dead link|date=February 2012}}</ref> Tanks and artillery shelled the neighbourhoods held by the insurgents indiscriminately, and government forces are alleged to have executed thousands of prisoners and civilian residents after subduing the revolt, which became known as the [[Hama massacre]]. The story is suppressed and regarded as highly sensitive in Syria.<ref>{{cite web |author=<!--[if IE 6]> <![endif]--> |url=http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/07/09/156879.html |title=English.alarabiya.net |publisher=English.alarabiya.net |date=9 July 2011 |accessdate=2011-07-31 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714075113/http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/07/09/156879.html |archive-date=14 July 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The Hama Massacre led to the military term "Hama Rules" meaning the complete large-scale destruction of a military objective or target. The city was the site of conflict between the Syrian military and opposition forces as one of the main arenas of the [[Syrian civil war]] during the [[siege of Hama (2011)|2011 siege of Hama]].